Return to Terabithia
by RoCelia
Summary: A story about Jess and the afterlife of Leslie. Jesse was surprised that parts of Leslie was still alive in Terabithia. What will happen next? Review, please!
1. Chapter 1

**It is the first fan fiction I wrote. Well, for me, that sounds challengeable. So, enjoy it.**

Title: Return to the Terabithia

**Chapter 1**

It was raining. At least he thought it was raining. Because Leslie, his best friend, was gone. Jesse opened his painting album which contained a portrait of Leslie. She was smiling. That made him feel a bit better but more painful inside.

_This was my fault. I should've invited her to the museum. I wasn't even there with her._

Jesse slumped into his bed, filling his mind of Leslie. Her smile, her laugh and her Terabithia. He had no idea how to face the Mr. and Mrs. Burke. He didn't know what to do with Terabithia….with the absence of Leslie.

Tears were gleaming in the boy's eyes. _I'm sorry, Leslie. I'm so sorry. I… I haven't … I should have invited you ._He trembled. _I just don't know what I should do. _He started to sob as tears overflowed and ran down his cheek. _How can I live by myself in the world without you? _For now, he just wanted to cry.

Jesse went to the bridge which was replaced by a fallen tree. Compared with the Enchanted Rope, the new bridge seemed safer. At least it won't break and cause an accident that easily.

Sighing, Jesse gazed at the other end of the bridge. It was Terabithia, the fairyland that they used to spend time together and have fun. There they rebuilt the ruin of the "once great fortress" into a new castle, talked about themselves, fighting with squogres, writing Janice "a love letter from Willard" …all the scenes were just like yesterday's events.

Carefully, and a bit reluctantly, Jesse crossed the bridge and entered Terabithia. He shivered, since he was so familiar with the place, and scurried into the forest. Then he heard the noisy tinkling sound.

"_That's the sound of prisoners rattling their chains."_

_I don't care about prisoners!_ Irritably, Jesse ran to the car and pulled the door open, grabbed the metal wind-bell craft and threw it away, as hard as he could. It clattered as it hit the ground.

"Jess!" A girl's shout came from the distant.

"Leslie?" surprised, Jesse questioned, mostly to him. _Is she still alive in Terabithia?_

He broke to a trot head to the direction where the voice is from, but there was nothing in sight, only the voice was echoing in the air. "Leslie!" Jesse shouted again, but still, no one showed up.

"LESLIE!"

"JESS!"

Jesse stopped and started to listen carefully. A rustle came from the deep forest. Soon it came closer, and closer, and until Jesse can see it. It was a small flying creature. _Try dragonfly._

_No. They are warriors from tree-top provinces._

_This wasn't a game. This was for real._

The little flying pixie lingered around in front of Jess for a few moments, and then it flew upwards with a whistle. Jess looked up and got a shock.

"Leslie…" Jess whispered.

**OK. Here's chapter 1. Hope you enjoy it. I have been trying to come up with more ideas.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here comes Chapter 2. R&R please.**

Chapter 2

There was a huge crowd of "dragonflies" hovering around him. They form the shape of a human. Jess saw the whole crowd glowing and fainting. He shaded his eyes with an arm from the dazzling light. When the light darkened, Jess opened his eyes, what he saw was a mirage of a young girl in the air in front of him. The girl that Jess would recognize no matter how long he didn't see her.

Yes, that is… Leslie.

"_Jess…"_ it muttered. _"Please… don't be so childish."_

_It can't be real. She was gone. But, why? Why do I have a feeling of being fooled? _Jess stayed silent. _What was I thinking? She's still ALIVE! Isn't that why you come to Terabithia? Leslie still lives in Terabithia! She didn't die! _He was in a shock and he was hardly having strength to say anything. How did he feel? Concern, worried, anxious, unbelieving, surprised…_ Is that a dream? _The idea suddenly crossed his mind.

"Jess, so good to see you again." Leslie's soul landed gently and greeted to Jesse.

"You…you are still…alive?" Jesse pinched himself hard in the hand; half believing it was a dream. _Ouch!_ It hurt. _So…that's not a dream. I'm not hallucinating…_

"Yeah!" Leslie's cheerful voice always made things all right. "I'm here, talking to you, don't I?"

"Why… How…" Jesse tried to ask in a gentle way, "But I heard you are…"

"Drowned." Leslie completed the sentence evenly as if it isn't a depressed topic. "Yes, I was. But you have witnessed the power of imagination before. You see…" she paused a little, "What stands in front of you is actually Leslie's memory. The Terabithians are gifted to create the image of the owner of memory. I'm actually Leslie's spirit, or you can call me Leslie's soul."

"No. You ARE Leslie, the UNIQUE LESLIE!" Jesse shouted, "You are the Leslie who always lives in my heart! Even if you are her soul, you are still my Leslie!" After realizing what he had said, Jess flushed and "Er… I mean…my best friend."

"Thank you." Leslie blushed. "It's very nice of you."

"Why don't you go back and see you parents?" Jesse changed the subject. "They must be extreme happy if they know your soul is still alive."

Leslie's eyes darkened. She hesitated and looked so sad. Jesse never saw her like this before and that made he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to upset her. "What's the matter, Leslie?" He asked carefully.

"It's nothing."

"It seems…something. Come on, Leslie, spit it out. I can help you."

Leslie shook her head. "No. It just… I can live in Terabithia, but if I leave, the power of imagination will be extracted from me and… I will become dust."

"Dust?"

"Yes. Dust."

"I'm sorry…" Jess apologized.

"It's okay. It just I'm already not belong to the…to this time. No need to say sorry, Jess." Leslie's smile came back to her face, "Come on, Jess. We rule Terabithia and nothing crushes us!"

"Yeah!" the corner of Jess's lips came upwards. "Let's race, shall we?"


	3. Chapter 3

**wo...Another chapter finally comes out. Hope you all enjoy it.** **Sorry for the delay. *innocent* R&R please.**

* * *

Jesse burst his eyes open.

He was panting, like he had just run a long distance. He shook his head and looked outside the window, before shivered and realized when and where he was.

It was midnight, he was on his bed. Jess sighed and lied down, but he couldn't sleep. He couldn't even he forced him to. His emotions were just too instable. _Is that only a dream or for real? _He wondered. He was both excited and some kind of worried. _What if she's still alive? What if that dream is real?_

The stars outside the window on the sky were blinking, as if they were asking the same question.

Jesse closed his eyes, but the first thing came into his mind was Leslie's smiley face. He shivered and burst his eyes open again. _That shouldn't be just a dream. She must be alive in the Terabithia._

Jesse smiled by the thought. Alive in Terabithia? How could that be? But it must be real. Things came back to the first day Leslie took him to the wonderland. He didn't believe the warriors and the prisoners, but later it was proved to be real, in and beyond their imagination. He was shamed that he doubted.

The sun slowly revealed its face from the horizon. Light shone through the curtain and started to fill the room. Before it filled the whole space, Jesse popped up from bed. He had a lot to do.

"Jess?" May Belle asked, "Are you Ok?"

"What?"

"You look…distracted by something."

Jesse didn't answer. He didn't know what to say. He shot his sister an unaware look and went away. Pretending to be oblivious, he had his breakfast. His mind was in a mess. He thought of Leslie, thought of that dream. The dream was so real, real enough for Jesse to reckon that was his day experience. Like the ideas of her was driving him mad, he stood up and burst out the door.

May Belle looked at the place where her brother disappeared; her eyes were filled with sadness.

Today was Saturday. Jess's dad asked him to do more housework than before. Jesse did as he was asked to, but apparently he preoccupied by something else. He didn't realize he had been staying in the greenhouse for an extra half an hour until he was called to do something else.

"Fine!" Jess answered absently. He shook his head to clear his mind. Strangely, he didn't revolt. It's not because he didn't want to. He was just so into the problem of Leslie.

He finished his work as absent as he appeared to be. However, he managed to done it without making any mistakes. However, he managed to done it without making any mistakes. He was surprised by his achievement.

_If she really lives in Terabithia, how should I face her? What about her parents? Terabithia is our place._ Jesse choked on thinking the word "our", which make his thoughts hard to be continued.

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**Hope you like it. And thank you for reading. **


	4. Chapter 4

**New chapter updated! Oh yeah! :P**

* * *

Two hours later, when Jesse came back to his home, he looked tired and exhausted, breathing as heavy as he could imagine. He slumped into his bed and sighed.

_It's all real! _He thought, _it is real!_

Jesse shook his head. The event of past two hours seemed like twenty hours, even days ran through his mind, like a movie is played again and again.

He remembered. _It was real, though it looked like a dream._

What he had experienced two hours before had confirmed his prediction. Leslie _was_ still alive in Terabithia; she would perish if she went out off the land. She was so real when he saw her… No, that can't be described as "so real", it was _real, _but now she was the same to any other creature in the kingdom—they can only live in Terabithia. One million meter out off the border would be leathal.

_How do I suppose to face her parents? Leslie's still alive. Well, alive in Terabithia. Maybe I can invite them?_

_No. _Another voice inside Jesse's head said. _It's your place, your land, your secret, that only belongs to the pair of you. You can't do such thing!_

_But at least her parents should know that…_

_Jess, you silly boy. Don't you remember the promise? _

_I do. As long as Terabithia exists, I'll always consider her as my best friend. She is my best friend forever._

_You have to ask Leslie, at least. _

Now the internal argument stopped. Jesse sighed in relief that the quarrel inside his head didn't end up blowing his head off. He thought of those scenes involved him and Leslie…

* * *

"Ready? GO!" Leslie called. She readied her stance and grinned and Jess. Then she shot out, giggling as she always does while she ran with Jesse. Jesse let out a small laugh in return.

They were sprinting, but for them flying would be more precise to describe their feeling. The sun shining through the gap between leaves, while doing so, it refracts the colors of light. Wind ruffled the two friends' hair.

The pair of these two figures ran through the woods, raising dusts and leaves blowing in the wind behind.

"That is so much fun!" Jess laughed.

"Yeah!" Leslie cried.

The sunshine flashed on their faces. Jesse glanced at Leslie, but he likely half froze when he saw Leslie's face in a fraction of seconds. Or, for him, the time had slowed down. He was preoccupied by her; Leslie looked so beautiful and charming and energetic. She was the Leslie he familiar with, but now the face looked kind of distant. He had a strange feeling—seemed like Jesse had seen a whole new view of Leslie that he never know.

They both ran for a few good minutes. The time spent on the trip was so short but also so exciting, which left all the other thoughts behind. All Jess need to do now was enjoy.

Jesse didn't know the reason, but he could tell something: Running together with Leslie always makes him excited.

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**R&R please. Thanks for all your support!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A new chapter here! This time I wrote a bit longer. Enjoy!**

**Reviews and subscribes are welcomed!**

* * *

Jess turned around in bed. He didn't have any idea of what to do if anything happens. Still, he was glad that he didn't lose his best friend.

After the weekend of heartache, heal and surprise, school time returned. Jesse thought. It had started all over again. he was not sad anymore, but rather in a conflict condition.

It's where he first met Leslie.

_Snap out of that, Jesse! _He warned himself. _What are thinking about! She's OK!_

"So…" Gary Fulcher leaned forward, tilting his head, and whispered after Jesse seated, "Now you should be the fastest one in the class?"

_NO!_ Jesse wanted to protest. He knew Gary was just taunting, or just picking on him as usual. He had been used to that, used to be bullied by him and Hoager, had been used to keep silent, had been used to whatever unfair happened to him…until now.

It was just ENOUGH!

Jesse shot up and turned around, staring into Fulcher's eyes with his own eyes narrowed. Jess found surprise and a bit fear in Gary's expression, but he did not hesitate to clench his right fist.

As if the armor had appeared, Jess aimed Fulcher's face as his target, and shoved him hard. The poor boy was still in shock, but he recovered quickly just enough to dodge the beat. He hit the box next to him and stumbled to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Gary shouted, loud enough to brought attention of everyone's in this room, though some had already turned to see what had happened when they heard the box fell on the floor. "Are you crazy?"

Jesse just sneered at Gary. _He deserves it._

The rest part of the day was so awful. Jesse met Avery, who tried to greet him in a genial way. He passed the Burke family; he saw the sadness and sorrow on her parents' face. For a moment he had the urge to rush to them that Leslie was still alive in Terabithia, but his reasons told himself he should not tell them their secret without Leslie's permission.

Jesse had to talk to Leslie. He didn't want to see Mr. and Mrs. Burke suffer.

* * *

After all housework was done, he ran to the bridge again. He wasn't thinking, like his sub consciousness was controlling him. He walked across the tree bridge and entered Terabithia. He saw the tree house, or the fortress as Leslie said, was still in good shape as it was when Leslie was still alive. Well, when she was alive in the real world. It looked like everything was OK, everything hadn't change a bit. But it did.

"Hi, Leslie." Jesse greeted, when he saw her. He waved a hand and smiled, enjoying the pleasure of being with her.

Leslie looked cheerful as she always did. "Hi, Jess. How's your school life?"

"Oh." That was a sudden question. So sudden, so unexpected, that made him stuttered, forgetting all the sentences he had prepared to tell her. "That's…pretty good." was all Jess could judge. He didn't want to remind Leslie about what had happened during the school time. So she did miss her original life. Jesse thought. Of course she did. It was a part of life. If you lives in the world from your imagination but spent no time in the reality, all you can do is wandering. The imaginary world wouldn't be so wonderful nor be so striking amazing if were not for the cruel reality. He knew how she had longed to hear about the new stuff, or rather gossips. On the hand, he hardly ha Perhaps it was not the proper time to tell her everything. "Err, Leslie…"

Leslie held hand to indicate him to stop. Jesse closed his mouth, gave her a confused look, but inside he was relieved for he didn't have to tell any news.

"Let me guess…" Leslie's words shocked Jess; he would never expect that. Leslie wanted to guess, she wanted to guess what happened, had Leslie Burke ever did that?

"Oh, just tell me." Leslie giggled.

Jesse talked to Leslie about the various changes in her life. Everything had changed since her…left. Avery had become more friendly to her. She'd never done something mean to him and even started to defend him. That made Leslie a bit jealous. A bit. She was also glad that Jesse didn't have to suffer the bully.

"Leslie…" Jess suddenly choked a little on what he's going to say. He hesitated if that is the time to say it. Maybe the sentence would never come out. "I…We…They all miss you…"

Which Jess regretted saying so immediately. It shouldn't come out. It should never have. Jess blamed himself for being so blurt.

"Is that what you think?" Leslie's voice trembled, "that I'm a dead to them?"

"No, no!" Jess cried, "It's just…"

He stammered. _Just what? _He had no idea. He looked at Leslie and shivered by this thought.


End file.
